What do you do when you've got too much time on your hands and can't leave the house? If you're Real Sickies, you make your best album yet! The Edmonton foursome has been one of the top pop-leaning punk rock bands of recent years, having released excellent albums in both 2018 and 2019. In the wake of recent events, the band decided to create a concept album about life in a pandemic. Amazingly,
Quarantined was written, recorded, mixed, and released in a single week - with none of the band members leaving their homes! Those do not seem like the ideal conditions for making a record, but I've gotta say that Real Sickies have never sounded better! Clearly these guys were inspired, and I'd be hard-pressed to find more relatable song topics given that nearly everyone on Earth is going through these same things right now. Songs address everything from living in constant fear to handling the anxieties of extended isolation to washing your hands obsessively to coping with unemployment to combating boredom to navigating the stresses that can be placed on a relationship when two people are together 24/7. The lyrics are for the most part from a personal perspective, but there's also some on-point social commentary to be heard on tracks like "Fake Spring Break" and "Trapped Inside".
Obviously this is all very serious subject matter, but Real Sickies still manage to make this record fun and ultimately uplifting. This
is a punk pop record, after all! The band is in prime form here - falling into its sweet spot between the Ramones and Teenage Head.
Quarantined is stuffed with big hooks, catchy melodies, and mighty buzz-saw guitars. It's a feel-good record about not so feel-good times. It ends with a splendid version of "I Wanna Be Well" - a great cover choice for this band and a perfect way to conclude this record. Real Sickies have made an album inspired by a particular moment that is sure to have enduring value. Play it loud, sing along, dance around your house, and set up a listening party with your friends on video chat. This is the best stuff I've heard from Real Sickies since their debut tape!
-L.R.
https://realsickies.bandcamp.com/album/quarantined
https://www.facebook.com/therealsickies/
https://www.facebook.com/StompRecords
1 comment:
Hey this really rocks! Thanks for sharing. I was expecting the usual but the whole album smokes. Amazing they recorded it in their own separate homes.
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